


Crux

by Luxicorde



Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Other, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, basically spoilers for ALL of shb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luxicorde/pseuds/Luxicorde
Summary: It's that time of year again, this time I'll be posting my entries here. My tumblr is @Luxicorde but it's mostly just shitposts.
Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906447





	Crux

**Author's Note:**

> It's that time of year again, this time I'll be posting my entries here. My tumblr is @Luxicorde but it's mostly just shitposts.

Alanus embodied everything Emet-Selch despised of what remained. He was greedy, and selfish. He was smart about his endeavors, covering his bases and making sure that no matter what, he could continue. He was driven by his own goals regardless of the harm his lofty ambitions could bring. 

And oh, _how much they had already done_.

“Well, your radiance? You _did_ want results, and I believe I have delivered after these long years.”

When Alanus claimed he had made a major breakthrough with this project, he had suspected it was through means he _expressly forbid_. Namely, turning to Ala Mhigo for more subjects, and children at that. “Adults are too muddled, too messy,” he had said. “Children are far better, and with the successful conquest of Gyr Abania, we do not want for orphans and those desperate enough to relinquish their own.” The Emperor had told him absolutely not, but for once in the many long years of creating and destroying nations, a pawn had slipped from his grasp. Even under full surveillance, Alanus had still managed to defy him, and the man was too public, too well connected to dispose of. And playing the role of emperor meant Emet-Selch had an appearance to maintain. Killing him was out of the question simply because it would create too many questions, and these imitations could be so obnoxiously _stubborn_ when it came to curiosity. Locking him up or framing him posed the same threat, and with the end of this play drawing near, it would be far too risky. And if he were exiled, there would be no way to keep him from simply sharing everything he had learned. 

He could almost respect the man for thinking so far ahead, if it weren’t for what he called a “major breakthrough”.

Sat in in the room before them, locked behind a metal door thicker than a man’s forearm was long, was E-17, or as Alanus so _unsettlingly_ insisted on calling him, Erastus. It was a far cry from what he used to see in people, nothing like the vibrant hue of his long-lost friend, but it was far denser than any he had seen since. Far more radiant than the fleeting mortals he had surrounded himself with time and again, but still short of what it used to be. 

And, concerningly, it seemed to be growing denser. Slowly, but very much _surely_.

“Isn’t he wonderful? Not only did he survive, but he has remained stable for two days now. Feeding him is still a challenge, of course, as you will have no doubt guessed from the recording I included in my report, but it is hardly the most vexing problem on our plates.”

Emet-Selch was disgusted with this, with what he let happen right under his nose. This was the closest one of his malformed copies had come to being the way it should, to being correct, and it came at the price of irreparable damage to the soul.

“What truly bothers me is why he survived nearly unscathed, while all the others died. You wouldn’t happen to know why, would you, Emet-Selch?”

He could feel the anger welling up in his chest. Oh how he wanted to dispose of him and be done with this, but it wouldn’t fix the situation at hand.

“Ah, my apologies. I forgot that me finding out about your little secret is still a sore spot. Well, I won’t pester you further. I really _must_ get back to my research, and finding a way to feed Erastus without more missing fingers. He isn’t a very popular subject with the assistants, and their anxiety tends to spook him. Good day, your radiance.” Alanus gave a lazy salute before heading back towards the main lab. 

Leaving Emet-Selch with _him_.

The last time he had seen one of Erastus’s incarnations, it had been when he served as an ambassador for Mhach, well over a millenia ago. Foolish and naive, patient in negotiations but hardly the quintessential example of an ambassador. He never had been though, always preferring to do things on his own and scorning the help and advice of his fellow people.

Now all he was was a scared and broken child; hardly fit for anything, and mostly feral from how Alanus described him. A pitiful and disgusting imitation of who he used to be.


End file.
